The heavy sigh he let out as he walked off the field at Whittier Park told exactly how Emporia High softball coach Ray Owens felt.
Owens had just watched his team drop consecutive run-ruled games to Shawnee Heights, 11-0 and 12-2 — games in which the Lady Spartans stranded a combined nine runners on base, committed six fielding errors and had several base-running mistakes.
“It’s just a total lack of concentration,” Owens said before pausing to let out another sigh. “We’re dropping fly balls and letting balls bounce between us ... that’s just a lack of concentration, that’s all it is.”
It wasn’t as if the Lady Spartans never had their chances against the Lady Thunderbirds.
Emporia (2-14 overall, 2-14 Centennial League) had runners in scoring position seven times over the course of the two games, yet only managed to score a total of two runs, with both of those coming in the fifth and final inning of Game Two. Though EHS totaled 11 hits, only one player — McKenzie Cinelli — came through with an RBI.
Emporia also had three outs because of base-running mistakes.
“We don’t get the tough hit. We need to get that big hit and drive some runs in,” Owens said. “At one time or another, every girl in the lineup, I thought, hit the ball sharp, but we don’t get them when they count the most. We don’t get those RBIs.”
Then there were the mistakes on defense.
The six EHS errors, which included a variety of dropped fly balls and ground balls that got through the legs of EHS fielders, directly led to eight of Shawnee Heights’ runs.
“We didn’t stop the ball well and we didn’t focus as hard as we should have,” pitcher Hilary Heinrichs said. “We didn’t make easy plays that we should have.
“Sometimes, we let our guard down and don’t focus completely.”
In Game One, Shawnee Heights scored twice in second and fourth innings, with all four runs coming as the result of errors. Then, in the fifth inning, the Lady T-Birds knocked out four hits — including a two-run home run by catcher Andrea New — and EHS committed two more errors. Shawnee Heights scored seven runs to go up 11-0, and when Emporia couldn’t plate at least two runs in its half of the inning, the game was called by run-rule.
“Every once in a while, we’d get a hit, but we really couldn’t get consecutive hits,” second baseman Tiffany Chalupa said. “Once someone would get on base, we’d leave them on or we’d have a base-running errors. We just couldn’t put some hits together.”
Chalupa and Katie Weaver each knocked out two hits in Game One to lead EHS. Heinrichs took the loss in the circle after giving up all 11 runs on nine hits while striking out two.
In Game Two, Shawnee Heights knocked the Lady Spartans around early and often, scoring in every inning to take control from the get-go.
Heights scored once in the first — the result of an EHS error — to go ahead, 1-0. After scoring three runs in the second, one in the third and two more in the fourth, the Lady T-Birds had a 7-0 lead compared to just four hits from Emporia.
When the Lady T-Birds then scored five runs in the fifth inning to go ahead 12-0, it was again up to Emporia to try and keep the game from being run-ruled like the first.
This time, Emporia managed a small rally. Maryann Bennett led off the inning with a single through the left side, but then Jennifer Lechien and Weaver each flied out.
However, Cinelli delivered a two-out double to center to drive home Bennett, and then Brendy Muninger knocked a single up the middle to plate Cinelli to make it 12-2. Emporia needed one more run to keep the game going, but Chalupa hit a grounder to the shortstop, who forced Muninger out at second to end the game.
Chalupa again had a two-hit game to lead Emporia.
The doubleheader was the last home games for four EHS seniors: Chalupa, Cinelli, Tia McAlister and Muninger.
“We have a few more away games left,” Chalupa said, “so hopefully they’ll be better.”
Tuesday at Emporia
Game One
Shawnee Heights 11, Emporia 0
Shawnee Heights 020 27 — 11 9 0
Emporia 000 00 — 0 5 4
A. Flint and New. Heinrichs and Muninger. W — Flint. L — Heinrichs. 2B — SH: Bigham. Emporia: Chalupa. 3B — SH: Medrano. HR — SH: New.
Game Two
Shawnee Heights 12, Emporia 2
Shawnee Heights 131 23 — 12 15 0
Emporia 000 02 — 2 6 2
Meakins and New. Lynch, Heinrichs (5) and Muninger. W — Meakins. L — Lynch. 2B — Allen, Medrano, Bigham, Sterbenz. Emporia: Cinelli.